


PDA and Expressions of Endearment

by astoriaamalfoyy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon Compliant, F/M, Hogwarts, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), PDA, Public Display of Affection, Romantic Fluff, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astoriaamalfoyy/pseuds/astoriaamalfoyy
Summary: AKA, the five times James and Lily were horrible at hiding their relationship with obvious PDA and the one time the Marauders found out (plus, a prologue).
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	PDA and Expressions of Endearment

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by an anon on Tumblr, with the prompt: "James and Lily are together in secret but lying about it because James knows the Marauders would make fun of them, and Lily just wants to see how much PDA they can get away with before the guys realize." The length of this fic got away from me and it isn't exactly like the prompt but I hope you enjoy anyways!!

_prologue._

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Lily?” James demanded, quirking an eyebrow.

“Of course, this is a good idea,” she replied. “When have I _ever_ had a bad idea?”

“Surely you’ve had one…”

“When, Potter? When have I had a bad idea?”

“I don’t know, it’s just – hiding our relationship from my mates? And then seeing how long they can go without noticing our obvious PDA and other various expressions of endearment?” he asked, turning away from Lily’s hardened gaze. “Seems cruel to me.”

“It’s our relationship, love, we can be cruel if we want to be,” Lily flashed him a playful smile. “Besides, I thought you’d be eager for the PDA and – as you put it – the ‘other various expressions of endearment’, considering how much you’ve wanted to snog me these past years.”

“I guess you’re right…” he trailed off before hoisting her into his arms and placing her on the edge of his desk, spreading Lily’s legs apart after she gave a nod of consent. James whispered, “No, no, you’re definitely right.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

She pulled him close to her, tangling her fingers in his unruly curls as their lips collided, lustful hunger inside of them both.

“Will we tell them, though, right?” asked James, breaking away from the kiss breathlessly.

“Yes. At some point. But for now, you’re mine,” she promised before snogging him once more. 

_i._

James and Lily started out with subtle hints of their blooming romance, their first of many in Professor Slughorn’s N.E.W.T.-leveled Potions class.

They were partners, both being top students. Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus were at a workspace beside theirs, working as a somewhat efficient pair: Peter wasn’t in this class at all, instead taking an O.W.L.-leveled Potions class for the third year in a row (unlike his advanced friends, he was not talented in Potions).

Anyways, the couple finished their assignment early, their Amortentia potion perfected after only one try.

“Fantastic!” exclaimed Slughorn, a wide grin spreading across his face as he made his way over to James and Lily’s workspace. “Great job, Miss Evans, Mr. Potter.”

“Thank you, Professor,” replied Lily, a smile just as wide on her own face.

“Now, what do you smell?” he asked, looking at both students expectantly.

“I smell broomstick polisher, herbal tea, biscuits, and,” James said, voice raised at the end, “ _lilies_ , that smell more fragrant than the others.”

“As for myself, I smell old parchment, coffee, my mum’s buttermilk pancakes, and,” Lily (like her boyfriend) raised her voice, “ _woodland cologne_ overpowering it all.”

“Interesting, interesting,” noted Slughorn, copying their answers down. “Well then, twenty points to Gryffindor!”

While the Slytherins protested in their corner of the classroom, both James and Lily looked to their friends, to see if they had any type of reaction.

They did not have any reactions due to their own _situation_. Sirius was howling in laughter at Remus, who had many of the materials needed for the complicated potion splattered on his face.

“I didn’t even know Amortentia was explosive,” James told Lily, whispering in her ear.

“I don’t think it is,” she giggled, covering her mouth with her hands.

“I hate my life,” glowered Remus, wiping the gooey substance away from his eyes.

_ii._

After the Amortentia incident, at every meal eaten in the Great Hall, James and Lily had discrete ‘expressions of endearment’ underneath the table. (“Stop making fun of it, Lily, I was just trying to sound poetic!”)

Since it was underneath the table, no one would ever have to know about it going on, so they didn’t see any harm.

James and Lily became close friends during the end of year six and now acting as Head Boy and Girl, so no one was surprised when Lily and her girl friends made their way from their usual side of the table to the Marauders’ side.

“Morning,” greeted Lily, sitting down next to her boyfriend, dropping her satchel bag onto the cobblestone flooring.

Marlene whispered something to Dorcas, and both giggled. The first gave a thumbs up for encouragement and the latter winked. Lily just rolled her eyes before turning back to

James, who still hadn’t responded and was piling breakfast into his mouth. 

“What, ignoring me, now are you?” she questioned with a fake frown, although a small smile slipped through.

“Of course not,” he finally looked up at her, a bright, toothy grin apparent on his face, too.

“Good.”

Lily inched closer to James, loving the feeling of their bodies next to each other’s. Their thighs touched, making a spark travel throughout James’ body (because, like Lily, he loved being beside her, and he had begun to think it rivaled his love of Quidditch).

Sensing the shiver of James’ spine, Lily hooked her left leg around his right. “Better?” she asked. 

“Very,” he replied.

“Good,” she repeated, an amused expression on her face as she started eating her own breakfast.

In that moment, James wanted nothing more than to hold Lily in his arms, to kiss her senseless, to just be with her in solitude without having to hide the chemistry between them.

But this was enough. For the time being, of course.

_iii._

Prefect patrol schedule (week of 23/10/77)

_Sunday: Severus Snape (Slytherin), Regulus Black (Slytherin), Michael Mckinnon (Ravenclaw), Sophie Clearwater (Ravenclaw)_

_Monday: Lily Evans (Gryffindor), James Potter (Gryffindor), Remus Lupin (Gryffindor)_

_Tuesday: Summer Reinland (Hufflepuff), Steven Reinland (Hufflepuff), Annie Jones (Hufflepuff)_

_Wednesday: Andrew Davis (Ravenclaw), Kierra Fairchild (Ravenclaw), Lukas Freckle (Gryffindor)_

_Thursday: Evie Reyna (Slytherin), Danielle Parkinson (Slytherin), Catherine Caves (Ravenclaw), Kevin Den (Ravenclaw)_

_Friday: Elizabeth Mulciber (Slytherin), Thomas Crabbe (Slytherin), Ava Price (Hufflepuff), Debora Sky (Hufflepuff)_

_Saturday: Daisy Burke (Hufflepuff), Aaron Taylor (Gryffindor), Joanna McIntosh (Gryffindor), Willow Day (Gryffindor)_

_*please contact Head Boy (James Potter) or Head Girl (Lily Evans) immediately if there are any scheduling conflicts, cheers._

Monday night patrols were ‘eh’. Well, all patrols were just ‘eh’, but Monday’s were the worst by far.

After a weekend off (usually spent at Hogsmeade or sneaking to parties in the other houses' dormitories), not many students were out past curfew on Mondays. Thus, the odds you’d have an exciting night giving detentions and lecturing your fellow peers were slim to none.

But James and Lily loved them… or, they knew they would grow to love them.

Time to spend together as JamesandLily, not James and Lily. Time to be a couple, to be without the pressures of hiding – but not really hiding – their relationship.

“Come on,” James said, grabbing Lily’s hands to lead her down an abandoned corridor.

“James, where are we going?” she asked. “This isn’t in our patrol route.”

“Oh, I know that,” he smirked, pulling her close to him. “But I can’t snog you against a corridor wall on our normal patrol route.”

“James,” Lily gave a half-hearted plea, “we can’t do this here. If a teacher or another student were to see us, our positions as Head Girl and Boy could be stripped and –”

“Lils, stop worrying, no one will find us here,” said James.

“Well, I suppose, if you _insist_ ,” grinned Lily at last, grabbing him by the collar to bring him in for a kiss.

Before their lips could connect, Remus strolled straight into the dark corridor.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Lily looked up at him, a teasing smile still on her face when she pulled away from James. “Potter was annoying the shit out of me; I was gonna punch some sense into him.”

“I see,” Remus nodded, somehow completely oblivious despite his intelligence. “Don’t let me stop you, punch him. He may be my close mate, but he definitely needs some sense in him.”

“Thank you,” she turned from her friend to James, punching him in the face. Although, she did so without much aim nor virility, hitting him harder than intended and straight to his forehead.

His glasses shattered onto the floor as he clutched his face. “Damn, I think you gave me a black eye,” James gasped.

“Oops,” murmured Lily – half-guilt ridden, half-satisfied for an unknown reason – as she and Remus abandoned their patrol to bring James to the hospital wing.

_iv._

Not many knew this, but James Potter loved cuddling.

His love of cuddling was harbored young by Euphemia and Fleamont, his adoring parents who spoiled him absolutely rotten from the moment of his birth. It then transferred into his time at Hogwarts, where he would cuddle with the Marauders, especially after an extremely exhausting full moon and they all needed some form of comfort.

At this point, he would often do it with Lily, but hadn’t done it in public yet due to the fact that they had to be in a comfortable atmosphere to really soak up all its warmth and, overall, greatness (James had standards for his world famous – well not world famous, but Gryffindor house famous – cuddles).

It was a Friday night and the Marauders and Gryffindor Girls (as Lily and her roommates dubbed themselves) were in the Common Room to play a few rounds of Truth or Dare. 

Since Lily and Remus introduced the game to the group in year six, it was often played when they had nothing better to do and Hogsmeade was getting boring. They especially liked playing it drunk, with a lot of chocolate from Remus’ stash.

“Evans, truth _or_ dare?” questioned Sirius, a mischievous smirk spreading across his face.

“I’m a Gryffindor through and through, Black. Give me a dare,” said Lily, taking a swig of firewhiskey. 

“Alright then,” he said, “I dare you to cuddle Prongs.”

Without any snide remarks, Lily stood up from her position on the floor next to Marlene, to make her way over to James. She made a scooting motion with her hands, Peter scurrying from his spot on the sofa to make room for her. 

As though it was a rehearsed motion, James opened his arms for Lily and she snuggled into his jumper-covered chest. 

“Looking comfortable, Lils,” Dorcas let out a bark of laughter.

“Yeah, are you enjoying yourself?” questioned Mary in a joking manner.

“Not gonna lie, girls, I am enjoying myself,” said Lily. “James is very good at cuddling. Probably more so than at Quidditch.”

“You got that right,” Sirius replied, before jumping on top of the couple to join in with the cuddle.

Peter joined in next, then Remus, followed by the girls, reluctantly. Eventually they all fell asleep in the Common Room and, several hours later after numerous noise complaints, Professor McGonagall walked in on them.

“I was not expecting this,” she explained whilst waking them up “although I wouldn’t have disrupted if it weren’t for the noise complaints I got from a few students.”

“Sorry,” said Remus, “I didn't mean to snore."

_v._

The unintentional acts of PDA are always the most powerful… too bad none of the Marauders put the pieces together to figure out James and Lily’s involvement with each other.

It was one of the biggest Quidditch matches of the year; Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Gryffindor had been up by almost a hundred points, and the Slytherins were getting nervous for the quick defeat that was on the horizon. 

That was until James took a bludger to the head, then went swirling off his broomstick and falling onto the grassy turf so quickly no one truly had time to react.

Once those in the stands finally understood what had occurred, they rushed the star Chaser (who was already and very obviously unconscious) straight to the hospital wing.

Sirius practically flew off his broom himself to go after his best friend, the match be damned; Remus and Peter followed in close pursuit from the stands.

Lily was only a few steps behind the boys, as she was sitting with Mary during the match.

She almost felt lost in shock, concern for James flooding her thoughts immediately. Lily made it to the hospital wing only minutes after the other Marauders, who had pushed their way past Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall to see James.

“Is he alright?” demanded Lily, upon entering and seeing her boyfriend’s pale and lifeless condition. She looked to Remus, tears forming in her, usually, soft eyes. “Remus, please tell me he’s going to be fine.”

Sirius ended up responding instead of Remus, his voice seldom. “He’s been concussed by the bludger. Got several broken bones and a cracked rib from the fall. Though, he should be okay, after a few days in the hospital wing.”

“Oh, Merlin,” she exasperated, before sitting in a nearby chair. She put her head in her hands and sounded to be on the verge of a breakdown.

“Are you all –” started Sirius, extremely confused by the girl’s behavior, however, was interrupted by a voice from the hospital bed.

“Why the hell does everybody look like I’ve just died?”

The three-fourth of the Marauders, along with Lily, turned their heads to see James, hazel eyes opened wide and aware, attempting to prop himself up with his pillows.

“Holy shit,” said Sirius before wrapping James in a huge embrace, “you gave us quite the scare, mate.”

“Sorry,” he replied, “I didn’t see that bludger coming… stupid Avery.”

“How’d you know it was Avery?” asked Peter, scrunching his nose.

“Oh, I just know.”

At this point, Lily – who had fought past Sirius – proceeded to engulf James in a massive hug. Sobs escaped from her throat as she wept against him.

“Lils…” James rested his chin on top of her fiery red head.

“I thought you had gotten hurt, even killed,” she explained, mumbled against his chest. “You’ve never fallen from so high before, it – it startled me, to say the least.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he said with a smile, “it’ll take more than a Quidditch match to take me out.”

“Do you sense some sort of moment happening here?” Peter whispered to Sirius, under his breath.

“No way, Wormy,” he shook his head. “Lily just doesn’t want her fellow head student dead. I, for one, would hate to do all that work, much less for two people.”

“Ah, I see,” replied Peter, nodding.

_vi._

“Ugh, what’s taking Prongs so long?” whined Sirius, staring at the closed door of the Head Office. “He promised us at the beginning of term that his stupid Head Boy duties would not interfere with our traditions. And having a long drag after the feast is one of our most sacred traditions!”

“It’s Christmas, what kind of Head Boy work does he have to do that’d he’d leave the feast early and now lock the door to the office?” asked Peter, looking at Remus, who was a Gryffindor prefect.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “Besides, James doesn’t even schedule himself for patrols anymore, and if he did, I highly doubt he’d do so on Christmas.”

“Then why is he gone all the time, hm?” demanded Sirius. “He always claims to be patrolling; on prank nights, study sessions, and even Quidditch practice. We get out so much earlier than we used to when he first became captain of the team.”

“Hey, I noticed Lily left the feast early too!” Peter exclaimed at last. “And Mary always says Lily claims to be on nightly patrols although she's never on the schedule!”

“Since when were you talking to Mary?” Sirius said, head whirling to his smallest friend.

“Merlin…” Remus mumbled, trying to arrange his thoughts in his foggy mind.

“Since weeks, months even. If you actually listened when I spoke, you’d know of my infatuation with her,” Peter grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Infatuation?” chuckled Sirius. “Infatuation? Who do you think you are, trying to sound like that Muggle lad – what’s his name – _Shakesbean_? No, no, wait, you’re trying to sound like our Prongs, right? With all his lovey-dovey hullabaloo.”

Remus suddenly let out an audible gasp; he finally figured it out. “Mates, I think –” he started, but was interrupted by another.

“You know what, screw it all. I’m just going to go right in,” Sirius said. “What’s the worst that could happen? Besides, I need my smoke right _now_ … you lot are giving me a migraine.”

He slammed his fists against the door. “Prongs! Open up, mate! Don’t make me do it myself because you know I will!” 

“Stop that,” ordered Remus. “There’s a locking charm on it and obviously for a reason!”

“‘Reason’ can kiss my arse,” said Sirius with a huff, murmuring its counter-charm under his breath. The door unlocked and he stormed in, pulling a box of cigarettes out of the pocket of his dress robes. “Prongs, it is time to take a drag, so stop your stupid Head Boy work – MERLIN, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?”

The Head Boy and Girl turned, obviously surprised by their faces, which had flushed a furious red, marveling in comparison to Lily’s hair. Speaking of Lily, she was resting on the edge of her desk, tie on the floor and collared shirt unbuttoned to reveal her bright pink bra. As for James, his tie had been discarded as well, along with his shirt. Her hands where in his hair, his at her hips.

“Uh, hello Pads, Moons, and – uh – Wormy,” greeted James, awkwardly, pulling away from Lily, scratching the back of his neck in a nervous tick. "Happy Christmas."

“What the hell is going on?” demanded Sirius, raising his eyebrows.

“It’s not what you think.”

“It sure looks like it,” Peter said with an awestruck expression spreading across his face.

Meanwhile, Lily struggled to button her top, determined not to flash in front of the Marauders.

“Wait, are you lot together?” asked Remus.

James flashed Lily a lasting glance, to which she responded with a shrug. 

“They’re your best mates; it’s up to you, love.”

“‘Love’? What do you mean by ‘love’, Evans?” Sirius looked outraged. “That’s a – a pet name that cutesy couples use! Prongs, explanation, now! Please…”

James smiled, linking hands with Lily as she stood up from the desk. He brought her to his side and she nuzzled into his side.

“I’ve finally done it, my dear and fellow Marauders: I have gotten Lily Jane Evans to go out with me.”

The reactions from all the boys were different; Remus grinned and let out a hearty “whoop!”, while Peter leaped in glee, and Sirius just stood there with his mouth agape.

“Was this your idea, Evans? For Prongs not to tell us about his first ever relationship with his dream girl?” demanded Sirius, reeling on the redhead.

“It was my idea, Black, I will admit. But James didn’t have to agree,” said Lily, “even though he did. Thought you’d make fun of him.”

“No way.”

“Way.”

“Pronngggssss,” Sirius whined, dragging out his words. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us! And because you thought we’d bully you… which we definitely will, at some point. But now, for this act of betrayal, I issue a tickle attack. Moony, Wormtail, back me up.”

“No!” exclaimed James, running behind Lily for security.

“Hey, I’m not involved in this game,” she brushed him away, “you brought this on yourself, Potter.”

“No, no, Lily, you’re definitely involved,” Remus explained. “You’re the one who came up with this plan in the first place.”

“Yeah!” Sirius exclaimed. “I issue a tickle attack on both Prongs and Evans. Moony, Wormtail, back me up!”

James and Lily were both able to let out cries for help, before falling into the custody of Messrs. Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail, who tickled them until her side cramped and he was dry heaving over the garbage can due to the excited churns from his stomach. _  
_

**Author's Note:**

> If you want, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated and truly make my day. If not, I hope you have a great day and enjoyed the fic!
> 
> Check me out on [Tumblr!](https://emptysatellite.tumblr.com/)


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